Rexim-Favor

• Is Ranged — yes • Name — Rexim-Favor submachine gun • Type — Submachine gun • Origin — Switzerland • Design Date — 1953 • Used By — Spain, Turkey • Part Length — 273 mm • Cartridge — 9×19mm Parabellum • Feed — 20-round box magazine • Action — Blowback, closed bolt • Rate — ~ 600 round/min • Velocity — 396 m/s • Weight — 3.2 kg • Length — 813 mm • Variants — Turkish M-68 • Number — few

Some say Rexim stole this design from the French. Whatever is true, the Rexim-Favor is a design that got very little interest, sales, or use, and then the company failed in 1957. The design was sold to the Spanish, who are believed to have made the original contract for the design. The Spanish tried to sell it under the name of La Coruña, with no takers. The only known service use was by the Turkish, who called it the M-68, and still use it to this day in small numbers.

Despite its low sales, the gun was well-made, chiefly of pressings. It had a quick-release barrel, and the magazine is identical to the German MP 40. The chief interest of the Favor was that it fired from a closed bolt—that is, the round was fed into the chamber by the action of the cocking handle and remained there until pressure on the trigger allowed the firing pin to go forward. Motive power was provided by two coiled springs, one working inside the other with an intermediate hollow hammer, and looking exactly like an old-fashioned three-draw telescope. When the trigger was pressed the depression of the sear released the linear hammer which went forward under the force of the large outer spring, struck the firing pin, and fired the round. Normal blowback then followed until the cycle continued. The basic problem with the Rexim-Favor is that it was an old design for its time, very heavy and clumsy, being more of a carbine than a submachine gun. It was also thought that the firing mechanisms were too complicated for a submachine gun, where simplicity is an important factor. The Rexim-Favor can mount a bayonet and use NATO rifle grenades, but at a weight significantly greater than even most assault rifles, few wanted it.